Afflicted By War

A government report last week revealed that Gulf War veterans are nearly twice as likely to develop Lou Gehrig's disease as other military personnel. The numbers are tiny--only 40 to 80 Gulf War veterans have the fatal disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS--but the preliminary study (released by Anthony Principi, the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs) has a much broader significance. It's the first federal study to suggest that Gulf War service is linked with brain disease. A researcher who saw vindication in the report is Texas epidemiologist Dr. Robert Haley; he has been studying Gulf War veterans...